Half a cure
by Wolf General
Summary: After a duel with Kaigen Ranma finds himself under attack by Ryoga, who has gone beserk. Chapter 5 is up. R&R please. Anonymous reviews okay. Suggestions welcome too.
1. Bad food and bad traveling

Disclaimer-No I do not own Ranma ½. That honor belongs to the infamous Rumiko Takahashi. I only own all original characters in this fic. So don't sue me. Trust me, it's not worth it.

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Chapter 1- Bad cooking and bad traveling

The sun rises to a beautiful Sunday morning in Nerima. The birds are chirping and everyone is planning to have a great day. Not a thing could go possibly wrong on a day this sunny.

"RANMA NO BAKA!!"

THUD!

Well, almost nothing anyway...

Akane returned her mallet to mallet-space and stomped back into the kitchen. "How dare he make fun of me for trying to make breakfast for the family before they all wake up!" She disappeared into the kitchen and shortly thereafter the sounds of angry screaming can be heard as Akane gets to work making another one of her "fabulous" meals.

Ranma finally landed in the middle of a road on the other side of town. He laid there for a moment and then hopped up off the ground, ignoring the looks he was getting from some of the people walking down the street. "Why does Akane always have to hit me so hard?" He shoves his hands into his pockets and starts the long trek back to the Tendo residence. "At least now I have an excuse to be late for breakfast. There's no way I'm planning on eating that kawaiikune tomboy's cooking."

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Akane sneezed loudly. ("I must have used too much pepper or something.") She shrugged and up-ended the entire container of salt that was next to her into the batch of pancakes she was making. "That should even it out nicely." She shoved the batch into the oven and then walked out of the kitchen, hanging her apron up and going into the living room to watch some TV.

"Come on Kaigen, get the lead out!" A girl's voice yelled. She was already quite a ways ahead of him on the trail and considering how much longer they had to walk, she didn't want to have to take too long and then camp out here in the wilderness for the night.

"If you want me to move faster then why don't you carry your own bags?" The boy grumbled and shifted the four huge backpacks that he was carrying, trying to adjust to their combined weight. ("What did she pack in these things anyway?") He could feel the sweat pouring down his face and he didn't like it. The heavy cloak he was wearing did obscure all of his features, but it also left him unable to get access to his own face.

Ignoring the urges to wipe the sweat on his forehead off, the boy picked up the pace and caught up to the girl. With her petite figure and 5'0" appearance, she didn't seem very intimidating. Kaigen knew better though. That girl could kill a man with her bare hands if she was mad enough.

"I'm not going to get myself sweaty carrying all of that. Consider this payment for me pulling a few strings and letting you come along on this school trip to Nerima." She flipped her chocolate brown hair over one shoulder and turned away from him.

The two march for a few more minutes before Kaigen says, "You're a pre-Madonna, you know that right?"

A loud slap was heard and for miles around Kaigen could be heard yelling, "What did I say!?"

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"Hey dad, come and get it!"

Soun blanched and considered the prospects of jumping out of the window to escape from the horror of having to eat Akane's cooking. After debating the prospect to himself for a few minutes he finally decides that he would prefer not to have Akane mad at him. Pocketing a bottle of antacids, he headed out of his room and down the stairs.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs he called out cautiously, "So dear, what are we having this lovely morning?"

"Oh I made us pancakes! I hope you like them." Her voice sounded so very cheery to him. Soun knew better though than to trust that the sweetness in her voice would reflect in the sweetness of her cooking.

"I'm sure I will!" Sound yelled cheerfully, tears of terror streaming down his face.

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Amy grumbled as she looked at the map she was holding. "How could they give us a map that gets us to Nerima but not give us a map that gets us to the Tendo Dojo?"

Kaigen shrugged from underneath his cloak and dropped the backpacks to the ground with a crash, paying no mind to the craters they created when they hit the ground. "I guess we'll just have to ask for directions." He looked around for someone who looked like a local. ("Ah, that guy has the look about him of someone who knows where he is going.") Kaigen walked up to a young man in a yellow shirt, green pants, and black and yellow polka-dotted bandanna and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me do you know where the Tendo Dojo is?"

Ryoga looked back at the cloaked man and nodded. "Sure I do! I practically live at the place."

Kaigen smiled underneath his cloak. ("Man we're lucky! The first guy I ask knows exactly where the place is!") "Do you mind taking me and my friend there?" When Ryoga nodded he turned and yelled to Amy, "Hey I found someone who can take us there!"

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Soun braced himself and was about to get ready to take the first bite of the lump of white goop that Akane had called a pancake, when he heard someone at the front door. "I'll get it!" He jumped up and made a break for the door, praying that it was someone who could buy him time to think of how to get out of the mess he was in. When he ran into the entryway and saw that it was Ranma, he nearly jumped for joy. ("I'm saved!") "I'm so glad you are here son. You have to come and try some of Akane's delicious cooking!" The tone he used didn't make it sound like an offer. It made it sound more like an order.

When Ranma heard the words Akane and cooking in the same sentence he did a 180 and started running, only to be stopped short by Soun grabbing his pig-tail roughly and literally dragging him into the living room. "Now now son there is no need to be shy about it! I'm sure Akane wouldn't mind if I shared some of her delicious food with you."

Ranma looked at the white blob on the table suspiciously. He picked up a fork and poked it gently. Looking at the prongs of the fork that had touched the "pancake", Ranma turned a slight shade of green when he saw the metal had been rusted. "You call this food delicious? I've seen sewage waste that looks more appealing that this crap."

Ranma glared up at a pale white Soun, who had stepped back away from the table. "Akane's behind me isn't she?" When Soun nodded Ranma braced himself for what he already knew was coming.

"RANMA NO BAKA!"

THUD!

For the second time this morning Ranma was knocked straight through the roof of the house and off into the distance courtesy of Akane's mallet.

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Kaigen looked around him and sighed. "Hey buddy, you sure this is the right place?"

Ryoga looked over at the cloaked guy who had called himself Kaigen and shrugged. "Last time I checked the Tendo Dojo should have been right around the corner from that last turn."

Amy growled and grabbed Ryoga by the front of his shirt, bringing his face close to hers. "Oh really? Well then explain to me what part of Nerima has a jungle in the middle of it!?" She motioned around to the tropical rain forest that was surrounding them.

Ryoga blinked and looked around scratching his head. "Hang on, lemme get my bearings." He started walking around in circles rapidly, eliciting a sigh out of Amy and a groan out of Kaigen.

"I guess we are going to be here for a while then," Kaigen groaned. He dropped the backpacks, once again paying no mind to the craters that they created when they hit the ground.

Amy nodded and sat down next to him. "So Kaigen, you didn't ever explain to me why you were so adamant about coming on this trip with me to Nerima. Mind telling me now that we have some time on our hands?"

Kaigen snorted derisively and he crossed his arms across his chest, the cloak he was wearing billowing because of the action. "I'm not letting you out of my sight again. Especially after that whole incident involving Robert and the old mummy that calls himself the blockhead's master. Plus this is Nerima we are talking about. I would never turn down a chance to visit that place."

Amy tilted her head to the side and brought her face close to the opening of the cloak where she could see his ice blue eyes. "What's so special about Nerima? They have a good restaurant you wanted to see or something?" She seemed oblivious to Kaigen's face-fall.

He pulled himself back up and sighed. "Noooo....don't you know anything about some of the stuff that happens in Nerima?" When she shook her head he continued. "Some of the greatest martial artists known to the world live there. I mean the place is literally one huge battle royal sometimes. Plus there is one martial artist in particular I want to meet. He's developed something of a reputation in the world for being one of the best."

"What's this guy's name?"

"Ranma Saotome," Kaigen said. He didn't notice that Ryoga had stopped walking around in circles when he had said that. "He's supposedly one of the toughest and fastest martial artists there is. The old basket-case of a master I have said that if I wanted to really get a good educational experience in the Art, then I should go and meet him." He heard Ryoga's slow and angry approach. Turning back to look at the boy, Kaigen sighed. "I knew it. We're lost aren't we?"

Ryoga grabbed Kaigen roughly by the cloak and lifted him up, growling into the ice-blue eyes that stared back in confusion. "Ranma Saotome is no great martial artist! He is a coward and a thief!" All of Ryoga's humiliations at the hand of Ranma came to the front of his mind. He dropped Kaigen to the ground unceremoniously and then yelled into the heavens, "RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!" He turned and charged into a random direction, repeating that phrase to himself like a mantra.

"..........." Both Amy and Kaigen shared the same reaction to that.

Amy sighed and stood up, brushing herself off. "Well I guess we may as well follow him. You can track him right?"

Kaigen's snort (the equivalent of: Of course I can) answered her question.

"Well then get the bags and let's GOOOOO!!" The last word of the sentence echoed as with impossible speed Kaigen scooped her up, sped down the path that Ryoga had created through the jungle, and carried Amy and the bags on his back like they were no problem at all.

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Ranma grumbled as the afternoon sun shone in the sky above him. "I must have really made her mad for her to hit me to another part of the country." He sighed and hopped up onto a nearby wall, laying on the top of it and staring at the sky. ("Why should I even bother going back to the Dojo? She's just going to wind up malleting me again.") He almost wished for one of his crazy rivals to show up so that he had a reason not to head back.

"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!"

("Speak of the devil.") Ranma smiled to himself as the familiar form of Ryoga charged down the road towards him. He already knew what Ryoga planned to do and he was ready for it.

"Prepare to face defeat Saotome!" Ryoga threw himself into a lunge at his rival, the index finger of his right hand extended towards the ground. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Ranma leaped up on top of the wall next to him, watching as the ground around Ryoga exploded into powder from where the lost boy's attack had hit. "Yo Ryoga, how's it hanging man? It's been a while since I have seen you around here." He jumped down from the wall and grinned as Ryoga lunged at him again.

"Silence Ranma! I'm not here to exchange words you fool I'm here to exchange fists!" He punctuated that fact by charging, literally hurling himself towards his rival as he punched.

"You need to get a life man," Ranma muttered to himself as he ducked under another punch.

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Kaigen's run was brought to a screeching halt as he watched the fight between Ryoga and a young Japanese boy in Chinese clothes. Amy slid out of his arms and rested her elbow on arm, using him as a support. "Wow, look at them go." She whistled in amazement as Ryoga threw another Bakusai Tenketsu, blowing another hole in the ground.

"Yeah, they're really going all out." He winced under his cloak as Ranma landed an uppercut on Ryoga's chin, sending the lost boy flying upwards and backwards into a wall. Kaigen watched Ranma fight, his mind working into overtime. "Where have I seen that guy before? His fighting style looks familiar."

"Maybe it's that Ranma....." Amy's hair was blow into her face as Kaigen took off like a cannon shot, running full speed towards the two fighting martial artists. "Hey Kaigen, what about the....." Her sentence was cut short as the bags crashed in a heap at her feet.

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Ranma was about to end this fight when he heard a voice yell from above him, "Ranma Saotome I challenge you!" Ranma and Ryoga both had to leap back as Kaigen slammed into the ground between them. He stood slowly and turned to look at Ranma. "Do you accept or not?"

Ryoga snarled and charged the cloaked boy from behind. "You dare to interrupt me in the middle of my fight!?" He swung his umbrella in an arch, the weapon on a crash course for Kaigen's head. Right before it hit though Kaigen ducked under it and kicked his leg back, catching Ryoga in the nose and stumbling him.

Turning to face Ryoga now, Kaigen's blue eyes glinted with the excitement of an upcoming battle. "I'm not going to wait. If you want to stop me, then please come and try." He kept his attention fully focused on Ryoga, so much so that he didn't even detect the baseball bat that was aimed at the back of his head, even as it knocked him unconscious.

Amy smiled sweetly at both Ranma and Ryoga, who stared at her with surprise on their face. "Sorry about that. When he gets excited about a fight he tends to go overboard. Gomenasai." She grabbed a handful of Kaigen's cloak and dragged him back over to the pile of backpacks. "Carry on you two!"

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So Ranma and Ryoga continued their fight, though the winner went undetermined because a few minutes later Ranma got out of Ryoga's immediate sight and in his rage Ryoga got lost again.

"Hey thanks a lot for stopping that friend of yours from ruining my fight with Ryoga," Ranma said from the top of the pile of backpacks.

"Oh it was no problem at all. Do you think you could do me a favor in return?"

"Uh sure, I guess I could," Ranma was never very trusting to people he didn't know who asked him for favors.

"Could you please tell us where the Tendo Dojo is? My friend and I are supposed to be staying there for the next couple of months."

Ranma raised an eyebrow when she said that. "Oh you are huh?" When she nodded he decided that it couldn't hurt to take her there. "Sure, I'll show you the way."

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It was near the end of the day, and Ranma Saotome was now officially exhausted. Not did he fight Ryoga today, but now he was helping this girl carry her luggage to the Dojo. "What exactly did you pack?" He groaned. He had been carrying this girl's bags for quite a ways now and while they alone weren't that heavy, carrying the still unconscious body of her friend over his shoulder made it a lot harder to trek the distance.

"Oh just the essentials I would need for the trip." With that she started to rattle off a list of items she had packed, making Ranma wish that he had never asked her. Finally the two arrived at the front gate to the Tendo Dojo, and with a sigh of relief Ranma walked into the entryway and dumped everything he was carrying, Kaigen included, to the ground. "I'm home! I have a couple of guests too!"

Kasumi came out of the kitchen and smiled sweetly. "Why hello there Ranma-kun, we were waiting for you. And who is your friend?"

Amy bowed and smiled. "I'm Amy Hiroshi. I'm supposed to be staying here for the next couple of months."

Kasumi gave her usual reaction to surprising news. "Oh my."

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It was almost dinner and everyone was gathered in the living room. All of the members of the Tendo and Saotome families were there, and they all were staring at Amy. "So you see I entered this educational program that told me I'm supposed to move to a pre-chosen household and live there for a couple of months. It's one of those research studies on whether it is safe for a teenager to study academically in a place with Nerima's reputation for bad things happening."

"Why our household though?" Soun's stare turned suspicious.

Amy blinked at him and handed him a card. "Mr. Tendo, you yourself signed the ledger saying it was alright."

Soun stared at it and then at Amy. He repeated the process a few times and then chuckled. "Why I had forgotten all about it!" Everyone in the room excluding the still unconscious Kaigen and Soun face-fell.

"Daddy, you mean to tell me that you signed a paper saying it was okay to have people living in our house and you never told us?" Nabiki's icy glare sent chills down Amy's spine as she listened. Realizing that Soun was about to pummeled by Akane and Nabiki, Amy quickly interjected. "We will be paying for our stay here!"

Nabiki turned to look over at her. "How much is the program paying us to let you stay here?"

"Last I checked the ledger said somewhere around 500,000 yen a month."

Nabiki did some quick math calculations in her head and shrugged. "That'll be enough. You're sleeping in Akane's room though."

A groan from the side got all of their attention. Kaigen slowly pulled himself up and readjusted his cloak, rubbing the back of his head tenderly. "Why'd you hit me so hard Amy?" He blinked as he realized he was in someone's house, and that said owners were staring at him. "Uh...hi there."

Soun rubbed his chin as he observed the strange boy. He was practically covered in his cloak, leaving Soun clueless as to what he looked like. ("What a strange thing for him to wear.") "And who might you be son?"

Kaigen slid over next to Amy. "I'm Kaigen Amero." He tilted his head back just out of reach when Akane reached over to tug on his cloak.

"What's the deal with the cloak? Why are you hiding under it?" She reached a little farther to try and remove it. He scooted out of her reach again.

"I've got a problem with being seen in public okay?" Kaigen's voice sounded irritated as she reached for his cloak again.

"Yeah but don't worry about it here. We aren't going to judge you by how you look." Akane lunged this time, only to feel Ranma grab the back of her shirt and pull her back into a sitting position.

"Knock it off Akane. If he doesn't want us to look under his cloak then we won't look under his cloak." Akane pouted a little but nodded in resignation.

("I owe you one Ranma,") Kaigen thought to himself. "Well anyway. I'm just Amy's roommate, and she invited me to come along on this....." He noticed that everyone was staring at him, eyes wide in shock. "....What?" Only then did he notice that Amy had pulled the head covering off of his cloak while he was busy dodging Akane. "Sorry about this Kaigen but they were going to see how you looked eventually. We may as well get it out of the way right now." Everyone in the room seemed locked into shock for a minute. Then Kasumi broke the silence by summing up what everyone else had on their mind into two words.

"Oh my."

_To be continued..._

Next Chapter: Nerima gains another martial artist


	2. An odd cure indeed

Author's Notes: Well I've gotten a couple of review about all of this, which is pretty cool. Thanks to all of you that have reviewed this so far, and as for the rest of you I would love to hear your opinions about my work.

Disclaimer-No I do not own Ranma or any of the other mangas created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 2-An odd cure indeed

_He noticed that everyone was staring at him, eyes wide in shock. "....What?" Only then did he notice that Amy had pulled the head covering off of his cloak while he was busy dodging Akane. "Sorry about this Kaigen but they were going to see how you looked eventually. We may as well get it out of the way right now." Everyone in the room seemed locked into shock for a minute. Then Kasumi broke the silence by summing up what everyone else had on their mind into two words._

"_Oh my."_

Kaigen grumbled and didn't argue with Amy. "Fine, you win." He tugged the cloak off and stretched, actually rather glad to be free of the restrictive cloth.

Now that the cloth was free Akane and the other got a better look at what they were dealing with. He stood about 5'3" and had a lean build which actually made him look a lot like Ranma. They even had similar taste in clothing, except for the fact that Kaigen wore a blue t-shirt instead of the pressed shirt that Ranma always wore. They both wore the same brand of pants though. That wasn't what had put everyone in shock though. It was his head that had done it. The first odd thing about him was that he had silver-white hair that seemed like it had been recently cut very short. The second and by far most noticeable one was that he didn't have any ears on the sides of his head. Instead he had a pair of pointy silver-furred dog ears at the very top of his skull.

Finally everyone around him exploded into action. Nabiki and Kasumi both were moved back, while Ranma, Genma, Soun, and Akane took up fighting stances in front of him.

"Foul Demon, leave this place!" Soun leaped forward and threw a punch which Kaigen easily caught in his palm.

"I'm not a demon. I'm not a monster. I'm a human being." He said it with such finality and exasperation in his voice that everyone had a hard time finding reasons to argue with him about it.

"Yeah, Kaigen's not a demon!" Amy was sitting next to him, resting her elbow on his shoulder and using him for a support. "In all truth he's my dog." Kaigen face-fell and nearly threw her forward with him. He recovered quickly from it though and growled at her.

"I'm not your pet Amy! That was only when we first met and since then wouldn't you say that time has changed the circumstances of our relationship?"

Ranma crouched down in front of Kaigen, studied him astutely, and then shrugged. "You've got some weird taste in guys Amy." Kaigen glared at him and snarled, revealing his elongated canine teeth. Ranma wisely slid back from him.

Akane slipped past him though and poked Kaigen's ears. "So are these things real?" Nabiki slide past her and poked the other one. Each ear twitched in response to the poking.

Kaigen sighed and mentally counted down the inevitable. ("5...4...3...2...1...And they're off.") Surely enough as soon as he finished counting the two girls started rubbing their respective ear. ("Alright Kaigen, time to show Amy that you gained some control over yourself.") He put every bit of willpower that he had into not blushing or appearing to enjoy the ear rubs. ("It's working! I...can....") He fell face-first past them and banged his head into the table, snoring contently.

Amy ignored everyone's questioning stares. "Don't mind him. Looks like the ear rub relaxed him enough for the long day to catch up with him. Would someone help me get him to a room?" Ranma nodded and helped her carry him up to the guest room Ranma and Genma had been using. They set up an extra futon and dropped him in it, before heading back downstairs.

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When they arrived Amy noted that everyone had appeared to have calmed down from their initial reactions to Kaigen's appearance. In fact they almost seemed like nothing special had ever happened today. "Wow, this family sure had some amazing recovery time when weird stuff happens."

"It comes from a lot of practice," Ranma said simply before taking a seat at the table. Everyone was listening in from their respective seats as Amy started talking. "First off, Kaigen is not a monster, a demon, etc. He is and will always be a human being."

"Then how do you explain the ears?" Nabiki's question was a bit smug.

Amy ignored the smugness she had heard in the girl's voice and took a deep breath. "Well it came about when he came to this accursed training ground in...."

"Jusenkyo right?" Ranma had cut her off mid-sentence. When she nodded everyone seemed to lose a little interest.

"You people know about Jusenkyo?" Amy was starting to see just how odd this family could be.

"You don't know the half of it," Ranma grumbled. "Let's just say that Jusenkyo and its curses are no mystery to the Saotome family." He glared over his father Genma, who ignored him.

"I guess that makes it easier to explain then. Well first off let me tell you that Kaigen is no longer a Jusenkyo cursed anymore." She screamed as Ranma practically tackled her.

"You mean he found a cure!?!?!?" When she nodded he shot past her and ran upstairs. There were sounds of a scuffle and then they could hear shouting.

"Where's the cure!?"

"What cure!?"

"Don't you dare play dumb with me Kaigen just give it here!"

"What are you talking about!?"

"The cure that fixed your Jusenkyo curse!"

"I'm sorry Ranma but I can't give it to you."

"Holding out on me eh? Alright, you asked for it!!!"

The sounds of the scuffle got louder and louder.

"That's my tail you jerk!"

"Serves you right for turning down the needy!"

"Who's needy!? You're certainly not!"

"Shaddup!"

The sounds of the scuffle stopped and then everyone could hear running noises from upstairs. Seconds later Kaigen practically leapt down the stairs, across the table and then turned to face-off against Ranma, who was less than a second behind him. "What in the hell is your problem Ranma!? I told you that I can't give you the curse, isn't that enough?"

"Nope!" Ranma caught Kaigen in a flying tackle and the two rolled outside into the yard. Kaigen kicked out with his foot and caught Ranma in the ribs, forcing him to back up a little.

"Fine then Ranma, if that's the way you want to play this little game!" He lifted his hands and for the first time Ranma noticed the claws he had on each finger. They were all glowing bright blue. "Try this little technique! Claws of the..." He lunged, only to get hit in the side of the head by Amy's baseball bat on the way down. His momentum changed and suddenly he was flying off into the distance.

Akane stared at Amy for a moment, and then she glared angrily at Ranma. "You....you...." Ranma turned to run, but unfortunately he hadn't expected Amy to be the one to attack him first with her baseball bat or that Akane would do the follow-up attack with her mallet.

"RANMA NO BAKA!" The cry went out in stereo.

THUDTHUD

And shortly thereafter anyone who was outside of their house watched Ranma Saotome make another one of his unexpected trips into the stratosphere.

An hour later both Ranma and Kaigen sat next to each other in the park. Neither of them looked very healthy at the moment.

"She hit you too huh?" Kaigen wasn't really surprised. Amy was oddly protective of him. ("That doesn't explain why she hit me though.")

"Actually they both did." Ranma carefully avoided touching the bruise he had on his cheek too hard. "What's with the two of them anyway?"

"No idea. I stopped trying to figure out what goes on in Amy's head a long time ago. By the way, why aren't you trying to kill me for the cure anymore?"

Ranma shrugged. "I've got a feeling about the nature of the cure. You fell in the spring of drowned dog right?" Kaigen winced at the memory but nodded.

"Something like that...." He really didn't feel like explaining how he had gotten his curse right now.

"Therefore that cure turned you into a mix of your cursed self and your normal self?"

Kaigen nodded again.

Ranma sighed angrily and put his head in his hands. "It won't work with me. My curse is from the spring of drowned girl."

Kaigen smirked slightly and tapped his nose. "That's why I said I couldn't give it to you. I could smell the female scent that was lingering on you. Considering how distant you and Akane seemed to be I assumed it wasn't hers." His face came in close to Ranma's and he smiled slyly. "Or am I wrong about that?"

Ranma blushed brightly and yelled back, "I could ask the same about you and Amy!!!"

Kaigen blushed just as bright and in unison the two looked away from each other.

Silence reigned around them for another ten minutes before Ranma broke it by saying, "Why don't we be friends?" He extended his hand to Kaigen's.

Kaigen smiled and shook Ranma's hand happily. "Good idea. I have a feeling like I am going to need you as a guide to some of the crazy stuff that happens around here."

And so for the next couple of hours the two boys shared their respective histories with each other, and everyone passing by them in the park could see that both of them were having quite a fun time recalling their memories, both good and bad.

_To be continued..._

Next Chapter: Surviving Furinkan


	3. Surviving Furinkan

Author's Notes: Hey there everybody. It took me a little work to figure out where I should start this chapter, but I finally decided that it would be best to have some fun stuff happening to our cast before the more serious stuff occurs later in the plot-line. Anyway, enjoy.

Jerry Unipeg- Thanks once more man. Glad you like it.

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Chapter 3-Surviving Furinkan

"Come on boy I know you can do better than that!" Genma laughed mockingly and swerved out of the way of one of Ranma's jump kicks. Ranma rebounded off the ground, re-directing the force of his jump kick right into Genma's open backside. "Shut up old man!"

It's another beautiful Monday morning in Nerima and the sounds of fighting could be heard from within the backyard of the Tendo residence as Ranma Saotome and his father Genma Saotome have their morning sparring session.

Meanwhile in the living room of the house Soun Tendo, the owner of the Tendo residence and Dojo, glanced up from his morning newspaper to look over at his oldest daughter Kasumi, who was setting the table for breakfast. "So where is everyone Kasumi? It's not like them to not be down here for breakfast by now."

In her ever-cheery voice Kasumi replied, "Oh last I checked Nabiki was taking a bath, Kaigen was still asleep in the guest room, and Amy and Akane went out for a morning jog." A loud splash echoed from the backyard.

"HA! You lack discipline Ranma!" Genma laughed again as Ranma's miscalculated drop-kick landed him right into the koi pond. There was a loud splash from within the pool and Ranma, now in his girl form, lunged out of the pond and elbowed Genma right in the back of the neck, sending him flying into the water. "Lack this ya old fool!"

Soun looked back at his newspaper, not even blinking an eye at the sight of a panda and red-haired girl fighting in his koi pond.

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Half an hour later, the assembled guests/family members of the Tendo residence had all gathered in the living room and were eating their breakfast. Ranma and Genma fought furiously over any food that was in their general areas, while the Tendos continued to eat civilly, paying them no mind at all.

When everyone finished eating Soun noticed that someone was missing from the assembled group. "Has anyone seen Kaigen?" When the members of the household shook their collective heads, Soun scratched his chin. "Ranma-kun, could you go see if he is still in the guest room? He's going to miss school if he doesn't get up soon."

"Sure Tendo-san," Ranma ended the fight over the food with his father by tossing the older man into the koi pond, and then he strolled up the stairs whistling a merry tune, ignoring the gruffs of an angry panda from downstairs. He tugged open the door to the guest room and the first thing he noticed was that it was a mess. Someone had taken almost every piece of bedding and thrown it into a pile in a corner of the room. When he and pop had left this morning the place had been fine. ("I wonder who made such a mess.") He started to tug the pile of blankets apart but something from inside the pile tugged the blankets back into place. "Oh, there you are Kaigen." He tugged on the blankets again and once more they were returned to their original position by a tug from inside the pile. Ranma smiled slyly and parted the blankets on top just enough so that he could get access to a silver-furred ear that poked free of the mass. It twitched slightly and he took the tip of it between his middle and index fingers, positioning it so that it was aimed at him. He took a deep breath, and...

"WAKE UP!!!"

The bundle exploded upwards and Kaigen Amero leaped free from it, bloodshot eyes snapping around fearfully. "GAH!!!!!" He turned to look at Ranma, narrowed his eyes, and then calmly gave Ranma the finger before grabbing his travel pack, trudging out the door and down-stairs towards the guest bathroom. He wandered by the living room and grunted when everyone said good morning to him. Ranma smiled to himself and went back down the stairs whistling that merry tune again.

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One hour later Amy, Ranma, Kaigen and Akane were all headed for Furinkan High school.

Noticing Kaigen's still bloodshot eyes Akane ventured to ask, "You didn't get much sleep last night?" He grumbled something and picked up the pace of his walk. Akane could have sworn she had heard him say something about a Panda and snoring.

The group made it to Furinkan High school without anything strange happening, which unnerved Ranma because he knew that meant that something was going to happen later today that would counter his good luck so far. Kaigen was about to trudge in but Ranma grabbed the back of his shirt and stopped him cold. "Hang on man, what are we going to do about your ears?"

Kaigen glared at him. "What do you mean?"

Ranma rolled his eyes and emphasized what he meant by tugging one of said dog-ears. "While I will admit that the people of Nerima are used to weird stuff, I'd prefer not to take any chances."

"Here, let me see if I can go and find something to conceal them with in the school," Akane said, running into the yard with Amy on her heels. "We'll be back soon you two...ooof!" Amy stumbled back as she bumped into Akane. "What's the...." Her sentence was cut short as she noticed the reason that Akane had stopped. A man in a blue kendo uniform had gotten in her way.

"Ah greetings my dear Akane Tendo! I see you have come running to profess your love for me!" Kuno grasped her hands in his and struck a noble pose.

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Kaigen watched Kuno suspiciously from his position right outside of the school gates, his ears perking up to and letting him hear exactly what Kuno was saying in perfect clarity. "Who's the nut-case and why does he think that Akane likes him?" He and Ranma had spoken last night about their pasts and at one point Ranma had mentioned some crazy guy at his school who was in love with his female form.

Ranma sighed and put his head in his hands. "That would be Tatewaki Kuno. I told you about him last night. Don't worry he's fairly harmless, if a little insane. You get used to him after awhile."

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"Actually Kuno Sempai we have places to be right now." Akane tried to go around him and he promptly slid into her path once more.

"Ah but my love, there is no need for you to run away in such shyness as before. For you see soon I shall free you from the foul grasp of the evil sorcerer Saotome." Kuno's eyes burned with righteous fury.

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"Foul sorcerer? What's he talking about? You practice magic?" Considering all of the weird things in Nerima Kaigen had seen so far it didn't seem so far-fetched.

Ranma shook his head and sighed. "He thinks that my female side is a different person and that every time I transform I am using some kind of evil magic to steal her away from him. The worst part about it is that he is so dumb he can't figure out that we're the same person."

"Oh." Kaigen said simply, ears fully erect now as he listened to Kuno's rant.

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Kuno took his eyes off Akane and looked over at Amy, his bokken snapping up to hover an inch from her face. "And who art thou, enchanting mistress?"

Amy stared at him and slowly replied, "Amy...Hiroshi." Her eyes went huge in confusion as he suddenly glomped her tightly.

"What a lovely name! You shall join the ranks of Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl in the halls of my heart!" He had tears of joy streaming down his face, while Amy's eyes were wide in a mix of shock and confusion.

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Kaigen's claws were digging very deep furrows in the stone of the wall, his right ear and eye twitching rapidly. ("He's....touching......her.....")

Ranma glanced at the dog-eared boy and gulped. He could already see this situation ending with Kuno having his face ripped off. "Hey Kaigen.....ummm....Kuno's harmless," Ranma was shaking the other martial artist roughly, noticing that Kaigen's eyes never left Kuno, "he's so delusional it's not his fault anymore when he does crazy stuff like this." When he noticed that he wasn't getting through he was calculating which pressure point he should hit on Kaigen's body to disable him.

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"Ah! How blessed am I to have three loves now!" Kuno ecstatically clutched Amy and Akane to his sides, tears of joy still streaming down his face. Akane looked like she was about to save Kaigen the trouble of killing Kuno by doing it herself. Amy was still blinking in confusion.

"Excuse me....Sempai?" Amy didn't really catch this guy's name, so she stuck to his title.

"What is it my chocolate-haired minx?" He smiled warmly to her.

She sweat-dropped and squirmed out of his grasp quickly. "What exactly are you talking about? We've just met and you seem like a good guy and all, but I don't even know your name."

Kuno released Akane and struck up a pose, raising his bokken high into the air. "Ah of course, allow me to introduce myself. I am this school's undefeated Kendo club captain, the rising young of star of the high school fencing world," he took a quick breathe and yelled out, "Many call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Lightning crashed from out of nowhere. He lowered his bokken and took her hand in his, kissing it gently, "Kuno Tatewaki, age 17."

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Kaigen held a hunk of the wall in his hands, both eyes and ears twitching angrily as he calculated how much force would be needed to drive the hunk of concrete he was holding right into Kuno's skull from here without hitting Amy. ("He...kissed...her...hand...") He was starting to lift back the piece of wall and would have thrown it had Ranma not thought it best right then to break the piece of cement with a punch. As the bits of his impromptu weapon rained down over Kaigen's head, he started to snarl angrily, not even noticing anymore.

"Kaigen calm down!!" Ranma knew it didn't matter what he said anymore. ("Looks like I'm going to have stop Kuno right now before Kaigen stops him forever.") Ranma was about to run in and kick Kuno in the head, but as his eyes turned back to the scene in the school-yard he felt them bug out of his skull at what Kuno was about to do. ("On second thought....maybe I'll just let Kaigen have him.")

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_Moments before..._

"Uh, that's nice and all Sempai but I'm not really interested," In all honesty Amy wasn't even listening to what she was saying. She was focused on trying to figure out a way to get rid of this guy without hurting his feelings. He seemed nice enough....sorta....but he seemed a bit unbalanced. ("Scratch that...he's really unbalanced.") She became so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't have time to react when Kuno leaned in to kiss her on the lips. She froze at his approach and all thoughts of mercy and trying to let him off easy were gone.

Before Kuno had even gotten close enough to feel her breath on his face oblivion and pain overtook him as a pair of fists, a mallet and a baseball bat all headed for his face.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

Everyone in Nerima watched as another human rocket screeched up into the air from Furinkan high school. This one was going much faster than usual though.

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Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean a fishermen and his crew watched in amazement as a person struck the water with an ear-splitting boom. Shortly after they fished him out, took one look at him, and then dropped him back into the water.

"We shall never speak of him again." Every crew member agreed with the captain's statement.

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Everyone had wisely vacated the immediate area around the four who had just made Kuno disappear very quickly. Amy stood there for another second, eyes twitching rapidly, before she puts her bat back into the same dimensional space that Akane keeps her mallet and stomps off into the school, screaming in fury. "The nerve of that jerk! What does he think I am!?" Anyone in her immediate way is literally thrown aside.

Kaigen stood there and tried to calculate how long it would take Kuno to get back. He had to be sure he could clear his schedule so that he could make that day "Sempai killing day". Ranma and Akane were entertaining similar prospects in their own heads.

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"Everyone allow me to introduce one of the newest students to our class. They're here from Kyoto as part of special study program involving Nerima's educational system. Please introduce yourselves to the class."

"Hi there, I'm Amy Hiroshi. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope that before I leave I get to know all of you very well." Amy shot everyone in the class her best smile and bowed slightly.

When silence followed her announcement all eyes turned to Kaigen, whose eyes were still twitching in anger at the events that had occurred this morning. Out of courtesy to a request Amy made to him, he had flattened his ears to his head and had ruffled his hair just enough to conceal them. "Hey there, I'm Kaigen Amero." A few seconds passed and when he didn't continue everyone face-fell.

"Is that all you have to say?" The teacher sighed when Kaigen nodded. "Alright then, take a seat there next to Saotome-kun. Amy-san sit down next to Tendo-san near the back."

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Tapping his pencil to his desk Ranma sighed and looked out the window, ignoring the teacher's geometry lesson completely. ("It's not like I'm going to ever use geometry in a fight.") Yawning, he twirled the pencil with his fingers and looked over to see if Kaigen was paying attention either. Smirking slightly at the far-away look in Kaigen's eyes, Ranma went back to watching the window. ("Glad I'm not alone.")

Kaigen wanted with every inch of his being to flick his ears right now. He knew he couldn't though and that made him whimper quietly in frustration at his predicament. He knew there would be no way to flick his ears without people noticing them. Plus the fact that his tail was stuffed down his pants to keep it out of sight made him feel even more agitated. ("I better just ask the teacher if I can go use the restroom.") He was about to do just that when someone behind him asked, "Hey, what's with the ears man?"

That caught everyone's attention and all eyes turned to Kaigen. Ranma put his face in his hand and groaned. Akane and Amy both repeated the action. ("Kaigen no baka,") all three of them thought at once.

Kaigen blinked in confusion until he realized that his left ear had decided it was done being folded, and had perked up without his consent. He sighed and let the right ear perk up too. Both were twitching rather rapidly in agitation at being in one position for so long. ("Hey it's not my fault you two are so easily excitable.") Then he chided himself for having a mental conversation with his ears. At this point Kaigen noticed he was getting stared at by everyone in the room, so he growled and bared his teeth slightly. "Is there a problem?" He made sure to flex his claws to get the point across that he disliked being stared at. When everyone took their attention back to the chalkboard Kaigen smiled smugly and went back to his day-dreaming, his ears twitching happily now that they were no longer confined.

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_Around lunchtime..._

Everyone was outside and having their lunch on this beautiful day. Most people were having casual conservations with their friends, but one conversation came out so loud that everyone in the yard couldn't help but watch as the girl in school was yelling her brains out at the really weird new guy. Both were sitting up on top of the wall and giving their "audience" a great show.

"You idiot! Weren't you supposed to keep a low profile on the ears!?" Amy struck Kaigen in the back of the head with the flat of her hand.

Rubbing the back of his skull gingerly, Kaigen shrugged. "It's not my fault that my ears decided they didn't like being hidden." His reward for his answer was another slap in the back of the head that hit so hard his tail, which he had recently allowed out of its hiding place in his pant leg, stood straight out on its end.

"What're you talking about!? They're your ears stupid, keep control of them!" Amy shoved him off his spot on the wall and took another bite out of her bento angrily.

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Ranma nearly fell over laughing as he watched the two argue. "This is better than a movie!" Kaigen had climbed back up to his seat, only to have Amy shove him off the wall again.

Akane glowered at him. "You're an idiot, you know that right Ranma?"

Ranma took his attention off the two on the wall to stick his tongue out at Akane. "Bleah! At least I'm not an uncute tomboy!"

Akane put her bento off to the side. "You're right. You aren't an uncute tomboy." She stood and brought her mallet out of dimension space. "You're something worse than that." Her voice was still very calm. Almost deathly calm. "You're a BAKA!"

THUD!

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Everyone watched as Ranma Saotome arched through the air above them and with a crash he landed on top of the roof. From her seat Nabiki smiled and pulled out her notebook. ("So let's see now. Akane hit Ranma to the school roof. That's a new location to put down on the odds list.") She made a mark of that and started doing some math in her head to calculate how much money she had made off the bets people placed. The "Where Akane hits Ranma" betting circle was by far one of her most profitable businesses ever at the school.

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Kaigen dodged another shove by Amy and yelled, "Stop it! Let me eat my lunch in peace!"

Amy handed him his bento and smiled sweetly. "Okay then. Just do me a favor and have your lunch away from me!" She grabbed the collar of his shirt and threw him straight into the wall of the school building. He seemed to stick to it for a moment before sliding down with a screeching noise. As he finally reached the ground Kaigen twitched a couple of times but otherwise didn't move.

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Nabiki was surrounded by a ring of people who were placing bets on where Amy would throw Kaigen the next time the two of them had an argument. Her eyes lit up with yen signs as she pondered just how profitable having Kaigen at Furinkan High could be.

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The school bell rang and everyone filed back into the building for the rest of their classes. Ranma still had yet to make an appearance, and Amy was dragging Kaigen in by his leg, smiling slightly every time she felt his skull hit something on the way to class. When they arrived they found Ranma sitting at his desk already. Amy dropped Kaigen at the other boy's feet and marched father back in the room, taking her seat next to Akane.

Ranma sighed and nudged the still unconscious Kaigen with is foot. "You need to work on your recovery time. If Akane had thrown me into that wall I would have been back on my feet almost instantly."

Kaigen suddenly woke up with a scream of terror, and looked around in fear. "Where am I?" His ears twitched and he touched them carefully, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh good, they're still there." Ranma and most of the class stared at him, and he blushed slightly before taking his seat.

_To be continued..._

Next Chapter: Surviving Furinkan (part 2)


	4. Surviving Furinkan Part 2

Chapter 4- Surviving Furinkan (Part 2)

It was gym class, and things so far this period had been going fairly well for the students of Furinkan High School. The principal had yet to show up and cause problems involving his insane rules, no crazy martial artist had arrived to fight Ranma and Kuno had yet to return from his impromptu flight out of the country courtesy of Ranma, Akane, and the new students. So all in all it was turning out to be a fairly peaceful day. And that is saying something considering that these students went to a school in Nerima, which is the number one weirdness capital of Japan.

Ranma sat on the sidelines of the basketball court with his two "friends", Hiroshi and Daisuke, and as usual he was being grilled by them for information about the mysterious pig-tailed girl who was second only to Akane in popularity when it came to who was the cutest girl.

"Come on Ranma, we've been over this a hundred times and every time we ask you about her you deny us. We're getting sick of your games Saotome. You have Akane, so don't be greedy."

Ranma Saotome was reminded right now of why he hated his curse so much. The fact that he turned into a girl when splashed with cold water was bad enough, but why did he have to turn into a cute and curvaceous girl when he changed? This made his female form all the harder to live with. "For the last time you two, I ain't got nuthin to do with that girl." An amused snort from behind got Ranma's attention and he glanced over at Kaigen. "Shut it dog-boy." Kaigen flashed him a smile that said, 'You're just making it worse', and then took his attention back to watching the basketball game. Ranma turned his attention back to Hiroshi and Daisuke.

"Just stop trying to find her. She wouldn't want a date with your two anyway." Hiroshi and Daisuke looked like they were about to argue with him some more, and he responded to their arguments by ignoring them. That didn't do him well as he got wrestled to the ground and forced into a submission hold, both of the boys trying to force the information out of him.

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On the other side of the gym Akane and Amy sat amidst a small crowd of the other girls in their class. Amy was currently being interrogated about Kaigen and her relationship with him. Apparently the discovery about his tail and ears made everyone in the school want more information about his life and his relationships.

"Come on Amy, why won't you tell us anything about Kaigen? Is he your boyfriend or not? Inquiring minds would like to know." When Amy didn't respond the group as a whole pressed the question again.

Amy sighed in resignation and glanced casually over at Akane. "Give me a basketball please."

Akane blinked at the strange request but nodded and handed her one. Amy wound up and threw it with all of her might at Kaigen. He yelped in surprise and barely avoided the ball that left a huge indent in the wall next to his head. All of the action in the gym had stopped as everyone stared at her in surprise and fear at the very Akane-like feat of strength. She ignored them and yelled, "It's rude to eavesdrop on other people Kaigen!" When he blushed she knew her assumption had been correct and she sat back down to talk. "Sorry, I didn't want him listening in."

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Ranma and the rest of the boys who were on the sidelines snickered at the now pale Kaigen. "You telling me you could hear everything they were saying?" A random voice from the crowd asked. When Kaigen nodded weakly he suddenly found himself mobbed by the other boys, Ranma excluded, who wanted to know if the girls on other side of the gym were talking about them at all.

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Nabiki smiled as she slipped out of the boys' locker room. It hadn't taken much to make sure no one would stop her on her way in. She had just needed to pull a few strings and the path was clear. Now she just had to take the bets before the festivities began. ("This should be one of the most profitable things I have done in a while.") Those familiar yen signs lit up in her eyes.

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Ranma and Kaigen were talking on their way back into the locker room. They were discussing the casual differences in martial arts stances. Unfortunately for the two of them they were oblivious to the fact that the rest of the male student body had not gone in. Nabiki had told them all what was going to happen and she had taken their bets on what the outcome to the situation.

As the two boys changed back into their normal clothing and got their backpacks, a sudden smell hit Kaigen's nose that hadn't been there before. He blinked in surprise and leaned down to sniff his and Ranma's backpacks before popping his open. "Someone put something in our backpack. It must've been Amy and Akane because it smells like they do."

"Oh really?" Ranma shivered slightly at a terrifying thought. "I hope Akane didn't make me a lunch and forgot to tell me. Leaving anything that girl makes anywhere for too long can destroy the container it is in." He repeated the action and in unison they took something out of their backpacks that brought a deep blush to their cheeks. ("Why in the hell are Akane's/Amy's panties in my bookbag?") Both boys thought in unison.

The click of the locker room door closing brought their attention to the burning red auras of Akane and Amy, who as one were already branding their weapons of choice at the two. Both boys froze, eyes open in confusion, with the only movement from either of them being the occasional twitch of one of Kaigen's ears.

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Nabiki allowed a truly happy smile to cross her face. For this occasion it was worth it. No matter what happened now she was going to walk away a richer woman. ("I tip my hat to you Kaigen Amero for giving me the idea of the 'Who hits their man the hardest' betting circle.") She already had cameras set up at the estimated point of exit for both boys, which would most likely be through going to be through the roof. Now she just had to wait for the starting "gun" for the race to begin. ("First boy to make it out of the building wins.")

As if on cue a stereo cry of "HENTAI!!" rose up from the boy's locker room and then it was followed by a similar stereo of thuds that shook the school slightly. She smiled at the satisfying sounds of Ranma and Kaigen crashing through the roof of the school and going who knows where. Right after school she would get the film and see who out of the two of them was the first to leave the building. Then she would collect her dues on the losing bets.

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"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!?" Ryoga screamed for what was most likely the twentieth time this afternoon. He had passed some strange place that looked a lot like the Tendo Dojo, but no one had been home when he had gone in. Then he had walked through this really bright place and wound up in some casino. He didn't have much fun running from the security there when they thought he had stolen something from a poker table.

Right now Ryoga Hibiki found himself overlooking some kind of military base in the middle of a jungle. The odd part was that the men on top of the wall were scrambling about as if something was about to happen. ("I wonder what I have walked into this time.") He weighed the chances of getting lost on the way to the base and decided he'd take the risk; he leaped off the cliff and used his umbrella to control his descent to the ground near the building.

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"Halt or we will open fire!!" The men on the top of the bases walls had their guns all trained on the single man who was walking towards the closed gates. They had gotten word that some mysterious stranger was headed towards their location and was after the cargo they were supposed to protect. Not that it mattered. The 'mysterious man' was just a boy of about 16 years of age, and he didn't even carry a gun on him. The boy stood about 5'6" and looked distinctly American. He had bright red hair that was spiked up enough to give him an almost punk look. He wore a black leather jacket with a white undershirt, and a pair of blue jeans that looked on the verge of falling apart. If it wasn't for the fact that the guards were highly trained military professionals they may have burst out laughing at the sight of a stereotypical American 'bad-boy' showing up at their gates.

The boy looked up at all the gun barrels leveled at his head and yelled, "Give me the cargo by the count of ten and you keep your lives!" When no one responded he started counting. "1....2...3...4...5...6..." There was a bang of a warning shot that whizzed by his head but he kept counting like he didn't even notice it, "...7...8...9...10!" The silence that followed told him what he already knew he had to do. ("It's time to follow up on my threat.")

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Thankfully Ryoga actually made it to the base without getting lost at all. Of course the fact that certain parts of the base were now exploding actually made it fairly hard to miss, even for someone with his horrible sense of direction. As he approached the fairly large stone-grey building he barely flinched as a whole section of wall suddenly exploded into powder. ("Someone in there must be using explosives in there.") He would have mused more on the type of weapon that had caused this damage but the screams of pain coming from inside tugged at his instincts as a martial artist to protect the weak. Breaking into a sprint he charged inside the complex.

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"How could he have done that!? He's not human!!!"

"It doesn't matter; back-up will be arriving soon."

"Like it matters! You saw what that guy did!"

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!!!" If there was one thing the commander wouldn't tolerate it was cowardice. "To get to the cargo he has to go through this door, so when he runs in we shoot him dead!" The dozen or so men he had with him nodded slowly and they all readied their assorted weapons. As the sounds of screams and explosions died down they heard a single pair of feet approaching the closed steel door down the hall from them slowly. The feet stopped right outside the door and didn't move. A man next to the commander smiled smugly and yelled, "What's the matter!? You scared b...." The man who had decided to taunt the intruder clutched his throat and collapsed as his cries turned into nothing more than weak gurgles. The commander knelt down and with a professional's eye saw that the man had a small metal object that had blown through his neck with the force of bullet. He looked over at the hole in the doors at the end of the hall and felt his blood run cold. "Everyone get down!"

The boy held his hand up and flicked the next stud into the corridor. The metal spike hit the steel door and punched through leaving a small hole. A loud gurgle told him he had hit another man. He kept firing studs until a few seconds later he heard one of his studs hit the wall of the corridor. Fairly sure that most of the threat was disabled; he casually pushed the door open and walked over the corpses in his way until he reached the door at the back of hallway. Noticing that it needed a keycard, he decided that while he could break through it that might damage the cargo. That would be inexcusable to his Master though.

"....Oh....god..." The slumped figure of a man who was lying on the ground next to him cried out. Without even looking the man's way the boy grasped his throat gently and brought him to his feet. ("It's time to play the intimidation game.")

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Ryoga had his senses fully focused on everything around him now. When he had ran into the base he had seen what could only be the destruction caused by a practitioner of the martial arts that was at his level. He knew that meant that these poor souls didn't stand a chance, and considering how many were already killed, Ryoga had every intention of pummeling said martial artist until he joined his victims in the afterlife. He ran down the corridors of the building until he reached a large pair of open doors from which he could hear voices. Not wanting to put the other martial artist in a situation where he might use someone as a hostage, Ryoga edged up to the door and listened.

"Where's the card to open this door?" Silence followed and Ryoga was unsure who the boy was talking to until a weak scream of pain echoed to his ears. "Last chance friend." The scream continued and Ryoga, unable to tolerate hearing the sounds of innocents in danger, spun around to look down the corridor, just in time to see the red-haired boy give the man he had pinned against the wall one last glare. "As you wish. Feel the pain fool." His fist shot out and connected with the man's stomach, creating a hole right in his victim's lower abdomen. Within seconds the man bled to death, his face quickly going pale and cold.

Ryoga didn't know what he had walked in on but it didn't matter. This guy had murdered all of these men and now he had to pay. Charging, Ryoga arched his fist back and swung for a haymaker at the boy's head. The boy took the blow and stumbled slightly, before smiling and returning the favor with his own punch, which Ryoga dodged. The two faced off for a moment before Ryoga snarled in righteous fury and slammed a hammer blow down right on the boy's spine. For a moment it looked like the boy was about to fold, but instead he laughed light-heartedly and struck back at Ryoga.

The building shook for a few minutes and then an explosion blew a hole in a wall. From it came the form of Ryoga followed by the form of the boy, both of which landed on their feet facing each other. As they faced off in the cool air of the jungle around them, the boy glanced at his watch and grimaced. "My apologies to you but looks like it is time to finish playing. I have places to be."

Ryoga snarled and threw his backpack off to the side. He didn't need his umbrella for this fight; he planned on doing this with his fists. "You dare to take the lives of so many people and then simply walk away as if nothing is wrong!? Normally I reserve this for Ranma but......PREPARE TO DIE!!" When the boy's only reply was a snicker Ryoga charged. He lunged again and once more the boy took the hit, stumbling back from it. Smiling, the leather-jacketed murderer threw another flurry of half-hearted punches, each of which Ryoga had no trouble dodging.

"I must admit Mr. Hero," The boy smiled when Ryoga growled at his little nickname, "That punch of yours hits me a lot harder than I ever thought was possible from someone with your apparent skill level." The last barb sent Ryoga over the edge. Roaring in anger, the Lost Boy charged in and slammed another trio of punches to the other boy's midsection, which caused him to take a step back from the force of the blows being delivered to his body. The boy felt every punch and wanted to drink in the feeling of pain. He hadn't felt it in so long. Coughing up a few gobs of blood, he suddenly became engulfed in an aura of red-black energy. "Once again though I have places to be, so unless you have any other warm-up punches you want to throw then we had best get down to business." He held up his fists, each of which was crackling in the same aura of energy he was giving off around his body.

Ryoga felt his depression start to sink in as he realized that this guy was mocking him. He could have simply let his rage carry him through the fight, but he wanted to make sure that this monster of a person paid for his murderous crimes. He let the depression build up inside of him and cupped his hands together, aiming them at the boy. "Take this you monster!" The depression built up into a ball of energy within his palms that he released at his target. "Shi Shi Hokoudan!"

The boy blinked in surprise as he was suddenly engulfed in the unexpected ball of ki. The ball of heavy ki stopped at the point where it had hit him. He managed to hold against its sheer force for about ten more seconds before it exploded, blowing a 15' deep crater into the ground. The last thing the boy thought before oblivion consumed him was, ("I must learn that attack.")

Ryoga allowed himself a slight smile at the expression the monster had right before he had met his end, but then the realization of what had happened truly came to him. He grimaced and went to the other end of the building, using his Bakusai Tenketsu to create graves for the men who had died. As soon as he was done burying the corpses he sighed and walked off, knowing that most likely he would never see this sad place again. Within minutes of walking he was lost once more.

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From the crater that Ryoga's Shi Shi Hokoudan had created a burned hand slowly pulled itself free. Minutes later the boy managed to get to his feet, though at the moment he felt more like dying than trying to endure the seemingly insurmountable amounts of pain he was going through. He had experiences with plenty different kinds of pain, and the pain from a ki attack was not one of them. Because of that he could not have possibly withstood that attack, which now left him bloody and beaten. He groaned as he popped his dislocated right arm back into place and then he reached into what remained of his coat and pulled out his cell phone, which had somehow survived Ryoga's attack.

He flipped it open and hit speed-dial for the first number on the list, putting it to his lips. Within seconds a voice came onto the other side of the line and he grimaced as he spoke. "My apologies Master but I failed in retrieving the necklace. Another martial artist arrived and defeated me." When the other end of the line went quiet he knew what was already going to be said by his Master. On the other end of the line he heard a raspy old voice say, "Very well then Robert. I will come and get the target myself. I suggest you heal up before I arrive though, because you know what the punishment for failure in your missions is." With a click the phone call ended. Robert sighed and sat down, crossing his legs and focusing on using his ki to repair his injured body. ("That man will meet his defeat at my hands the next time we fight. Next time I'll be ready for his ki attack. Then he won't have any way to defeat me.")

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As the bell rang signaling the end of class for the day, students filed out of the school and went their separate ways. Out of all of the happy expressions that could be seen from the crowd, one person stood out for a different number of reasons. For one thing the youth in question looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Secondly, he also had been rather badly injured from his run-ins with the walls and ceiling of the high school over the course of the day. He had one black eye, a pair of bruised ribs, and a trio of bumps on different parts of his head. So all in all Kaigen's first day of school had been hell on earth. He grumbled and still noticed that everyone was giving him a wide berth. ("Screw it...if they don't like me because of how I look then I don't want their friendship anyway.") He was brought out of his thoughts by a pat on the back.

"So," Ranma said, his voice dripping in mock cheer, "What do you think of Furinkan High school?" Just like Kaigen, Ranma had been through the metaphorical meat grinder. He had several bruises on his body and lump on his head that didn't look like it would heal very soon.

Kaigen thought back to the events of the day and very quickly came to a conclusion about the direction his life had turned. "If I had to come to this school for more than just a couple of months, I think I would kill myself."

Ranma shrugged. "It'll get better."

Kaigen laughed weakly. "It had better improve. By the way, I think Akane is starting to rub off on Amy. She never used to hit me as hard or as often as she has been recently."

Ranma sighed. "Now if only Amy's cuteness would rub off on Akane. That kawaiikune tomboy fiancé of mine is being a real pain in the....." Ranma really didn't get to finish his sentence as his face was crushed into the cement by the force of Akane's book bag, which she had solidly planted into the back of his skull.

"And people wonder why I hit you Ranma! It's because you're such a rude jerk!" Akane removed her bag from Ranma's head and smiled sweetly at a very surprised Kaigen. "And how was your first day here at Furinkan Kaigen? Did you enjoy it?"

Kaigen shrugged. "It was okay." He felt that if he said his original answer he would most likely find himself in the stratosphere again. ("Better not risk it.") Then his ears perked as he heard Amy's approach. And by the way she was laughing he understood she had been around when he had been confronted right before school had ended. ("I'm not going to sit around and listen to her laugh at me. I've had a bad enough day already.") He took off into a full run leaving a dust trail behind him as ran for the Tendo residence.

Akane watched Kaigen literally disappear with confusion etched across his face. The look of confusion got worse as she heard Amy yell after him, "Aw Kaigen! You should take it as a compliment! Most people are flattered when told they look like a celebrity!" When she got no response from the speck in the distance that was Kaigen Amero, she huffed and screamed out at him, "Fine you big baby, go and cry!"

At this point Ranma had recovered from the forced face-fall that Akane had done to him. Snapping back up from his current position, he looked curiously at Amy. "What's the matter with him?"

Amy giggled. "Oh the drama club asked him if he could play the lead role in the school play that is going on in a month."

Akane and Ranma both scratched the back of their heads in unison. "What's so bad about that? I'd think he would be flattered."

Amy smiled and started rummaging around in her backpack for something. "He didn't say yes yet, but they gave him this as something for him to learn about his role in the play." She pulled out a thick book and placed it in Ranma's hands. Ranma and Akane both looked at it, and then fell to the ground in a heap laughing.

The book had been a collection of Inuyasha manga.

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Kaigen slammed his snap-kick outwards at the training dummy, the straw figure shuddering from the force of the blow. It was nearing evening and he had already listened to almost every joke that Ranma, Amy, Akane, and Nabiki could have possibly thrown at him about his possible role as Inuyasha in the play. Not that he had said yes or anything, but it just made him so mad when he though about how they were mocking him because of this stupid curse. His claws started to glow a bright blue as he landed a flurry of snap kicks to the training dummy, causing it to shudder and groan in protest at its treatment. The glow got brighter and he felt the very air around the attack start to become disturbed. As the attack finished building its energy he slammed both of his claws down and cross-slashed the unfortunate dummy. "Claws of the Wind!" It was instantly torn to shreds as the wind ki charged claws dismembered it. With a deep breath, he turned and walked back into the house, tugging on his gi gently. ("Maybe I should just take this stupid thing in stride. After all it's not that bad when I think about it. I am getting offered the lead role in a school play. Plus I do look a lot like Inuyasha.") He smiled slightly and decided that he needed a way to relieve some stress, and he knew just how to go about it.

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Ranma had just finished his battle for dinner with his pop and he was about ready to go do his evening training. When he arrived he found someone waiting for him in dojo. "Whatcha need Kaigen?"

Kaigen was still dressed in his normal training gi and pants. He lifted his clawed hand up and pointed right at Ranma. "Ranma Saotome, I challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?"

_To be continued..._

Next Chapter: Duels and Demons

Author's notes: Well, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. By the way, could I get some more reviews please? I'd like to know if I even have anyone reading my work.


	5. Duels and Demons

Chapter 5- Duels and Demons

_Kaigen was still dressed in his normal training gi and pants. He lifted his clawed hand up and pointed right at Ranma. "Ranma Saotome, I challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?"_

Ranma smiled and cracked his knuckles. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me again. Yeah, you have yourself a duel buddy."

The two boys stared each other down for a minute, both of them taking their respective stances. Ranma took his Kempo stance, while Kaigen's took a stance that seemed much more relaxed. Finally the stand-off broke and the two ran at each other with a battle cry.

They met in the middle of the dojo, Ranma getting the first hit in as his fist slammed into Kaigen's gut at near supersonic speeds. For a moment the dog-eared martial artist faltered, and then with a smile he threw out a snap-kick already knowing that Ranma would simply jump above it. But that was just what he was waiting for. He slammed both of his hands to the ground and roared, "Claw wind storm!" The stillness in the air was shattered as a blast of strong wind blew upwards. Ranma was launched like he was on a springboard, slamming back-first into the ceiling of the dojo. He felt little jolts of pain as the force of the wind gave him the equivalent of at least a dozen paper cuts all over his body. As Ranma felt the wind give out he snapped his leg back, rebounded off the ceiling and used his position right over Kaigen's head for an advantage to the jump kick he was throwing. He came down on the other boy's head, sending him to the floor-boards with a crash. Ranma smiled from his perch atop the head of the now floored Kaigen. "You give?"

Kaigen's response came in the form of another surge of ki. "Claw wind storm!"

As Ranma was pressed against the ceiling of the dojo again he muttered, "I guess not."

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"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!?"

Once again, Ryoga Hibiki found himself lost for what must have been the fiftieth time today. Now though he was standing on the deck of a ferry headed across a river. Everyone else on the ferry was all staring at him in confusion. Finally the ferry driver whistled to get Ryoga's attention. "Hey ya Japanese feller. Ya mind quietin down so ya don't scare the zoo animals? Some people came ere a long way to see these ere livin dinosaurs."

Ryoga scratched the back of his head, thoroughly frustrated and confused, and decided now was the best time to scream, "RANMA THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" This got him hit in the back of the head by a random shoe from someone amongst the passengers. He looked at the shoe and for the second time screamed, "RANMA THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

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The next time Ranma came down from the Claw Wind Storm Kaigen had the good sense to get out of the way. "Alright then dog boy if you want to play with special attacks, try one of mine." Ranma charged forward and unleashed hundreds of punches that came in at all angles towards Kaigen's body. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!!"

Kaigen stumbled back from the pig-tailed martial artist's technique. He barely managed to keep out of range of the wave of punches that would have put him down if they connected. He knew he couldn't hope to block them all, so his best chance was to dodge. When he felt the air behind him shift differently though, he understood that he was stuck. In a matter of seconds he was going to hit the wall and get pummeled into defeat. ("I only have one chance to break his attack. I'm unsure whether it'll work against so many hits though. Oh well, here goes nothing.") As his back hit the wall he dropped both of his hands to his side and went still.

"You're making it too easy Kaigen!" Ranma's chestnut fist technique finally got within range of the dog-eared fighter, pounding his body with over a hundred hits in the matter of three seconds. Ranma smiled as he watched Kaigen grit his teeth as he was beaten senseless. "You shouldn't have......" Ranma was cut off as pain hit him from every side. He could barely see straight but could tell that he was moving through the air rapidly. When his back hit the wall at the other end of the Dojo he slid down to the floor and watched dazedly as Kaigen collapsed to his knees as well. A couple of minutes passed and neither of them spoke, both fighters recovering their strength. Finally Ranma broke the silence. "What....was....that?"

Kaigen panted loudly, slowly pulling himself up. "Shifting....Sands...technique..." He shakily came to his feet and flexed his claws, each one of them glowing bright blue. "I'd....advise you....not let me.....hit you with this Ranma." He charged and leaped into the air, bringing the lightly glowing claws down in a cross-slash. "Claws of the wind!"

Ranma could already figure out what that attack was meant to do. He bit back the pain of his new wounds and he flipped to his feet. As Kaigen almost landed his attack, Ranma ducked in under his cross-slash and connected his fist with Kaigen's stomach. He let the force of his punch carry him to the other end of the dojo, stumbling as sweat started to drip down his face.

Kaigen's attack simply cut a few shallow lines in the wood, but what concerned him was the 'punch' Ranma had landed. 't......have.....been.....one....hit......") Kaigen rose and gathered more of his energy into his claws. "Do that again." He charged in again and leaped, throwing another cross-slash. "Claws of the Wind!" Ranma repeated the action he had used before, ducking under the slash and punching Kaigen in the stomach. When the dog-eared boy landed this time he understood what the nature of Ranma's attack had been. He didn't use one punch. ("It was some kind of variation of that rapid-fire punch technique of his. Except that he narrowed the striking area for the attack to one spot on my body. Talk about your ingenious tactics.") He turned to attack again but his body decided it didn't like that idea as it stiffened up in pain. ("Guess it was pretty dumb of me to try and figure out his attack by letting him hit me with it.")

Ranma watched Kaigen cautiously. He was still waiting for some kind of counter-attack. When he realized that no such attack was coming he got ready to strike again. ("Sorry about this man but I'm not a patient kind of guy.") Ranma charged and unleashed an encore of one of his most powerful attacks. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" A wave of punches engulfed Kaigen's back and he was sent through the wall of the Dojo and out into the backyard.

As Kaigen went through the wall his body reflexively curled into a ball and rolled until he came to a stop at the end of the yard. He flipped to his feet and grimaced in pain at the damage Ranma's attack had caused to him. ("Guess I should have said something. It's too late now.") He watched as Ranma came out of the hole in the dojo, more than ready to fight him until one of them were no longer standing. Kaigen smiled grimly and reached into his mental bag of tricks, prepping a new attack to use. ("I'm glad we're both in agreement that the fight's not over until one of us falls.")

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Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo stopped their game of Shogi to watch the two boys in the yard. "Well Saotome-kun, doesn't it do your heart good to see those two pushing each other to the brink of their abilities."

Genma nodded and quickly re-arranged the pieces on the shogi board until the game was more to his advantage. "It sure does Tendo-kun. It makes me proud to be a martial artist."

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Ranma continued to stare down Kaigen, waiting for him to do something. "You know man this fight is starting to become pretty one-sided. Maybe you want a break?" He let his tone show that he was joking. He didn't intend to show any mercy in this fight.

Smiling weakly, Kaigen realized he needed to come up with some more special attacks. ("I've got a few left he hasn't seen yet, but I'm having trouble getting the energy for them right now.") "You know what Ranma? If you are such a good fighter, try and block this little trick." Hoping his bluff would work, Kaigen charged.

("I'm sure that is just what you want me to do.") Ranma of course had no intention of trying to block whatever attack was headed his way. Smiling, the pig-tailed martial artist leaped forward and landed a fist right across Kaigen's surprised face before he even got a chance to use his special attack. Using his variation of the chestnut fist technique, he landed another hundred blows across Kaigen's cheek in an instant. As the dog-eared boy was hurled backwards by the hit, Ranma sighed. "You're really out of it dude. Maybe you should stop this before you get hurt?" When he noticed Kaigen was already unconscious, he shook his head. ("I hate to sound like my old man, but you lack training.") Hefting Kaigen over his shoulder, he brought him inside.

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Robert knew he couldn't take anymore. It was simply too much pain. No matter how hard he tried though he knew he was incapable of resisting the damage that was being dealt to him. Then he thought back to his fight with the man wearing the bandanna though. He remembered the humiliation that burned his ego as he had been brushed aside like he was some low level piece of trash.

"You look like you are about to break. You sure you want to go on with the training?" The voice belonged to his Master, whose clawed hands were resting on his wrists and pumping him full of disruptive ki. The sheer volume of the discordant energy was starting to shake him apart from the inside.

He knew he should have simply quit, but something from deep inside him refused to let it happen. "N....o......" He managed to squeak out right before another surge of ki nearly blew his body apart.

A strained cackle reached his ears. "Very well Robert."

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Sighing, Amy applied the wash-cloth to Kaigen's head again. She was sitting in the guestroom of the Tendo residence, with Ranma and Akane sitting on both sides of her.

Akane sighed and looked at the bruise that was starting to develop on the unconscious boy's cheek. "Is he going to be okay?"

Amy frowned and held Kaigen still while he started to squirm. Apparently the pains of his wounds from his fight with Ranma were causing him quite a bit of discomfort, even while he was unconscious. Reaching over she scratched him behind one of his ears gently, giggling as he calmed down instantly. "Even works while he is asleep."

Ranma sighed and put his head in his hands. "Geez, I'd have thought that he would have been a tougher opponent than that."

Akane glared at him angrily. "Why'd you have to hurt him anyway Ranma!?"

Ranma slid back from her, hands up in the air defensively. "I didn't do anything wrong! He challenged me!"

Amy smiled and continued to scratch Kaigen's ear. "Don't worry about it. He'll fix himself up soon enough." She stood and all at once they left the room to give Kaigen some quiet. If Ranma had been paying attention he would have noticed Kaigen's hand blurring momentarily as he passed by.

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Kaigen's eyes slowly opened a minute or two after everyone filed out. He started stuffing items into his backpack. His fight with Ranma had reminded him that he was badly out of practice in his art. With a weak sigh he scribbled a note on a piece of paper and left it on his bed. With one glance back at the doorway to the room he slid the window open and leaped out, backpack in hand. ("I'll return soon enough. I hope Ranma keeps my gift to him safe while I'm gone.")

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Ranma sighed and plopped down on the floor of the dojo, his eyes fixated on the hole he had created when he'd sent Kaigen through the wall. ("What's everyone getting mad at me for? He was the one who challenged me to the fight.") He thought back on the details of the fight and couldn't help but smile when Kaigen had somehow reflected the force of his own chestnut fist technique right back at him. Unfortunately it was the only good move that the guy had used during their entire little spar. ("He threw himself at me in the same way that Ryoga used to.") Because of that he had assumed that Kaigen possessed the almost monster-like endurance that the Lost Boy had. He didn't mean to hit him with a hundred punches when he had struck Kaigen. He just had switched his attacks into the mode he always used when dealing with Ryoga. ("Besides, he'll be back on his feet by the morning.")

The thud of someone running towards the Dojo from the residence assaulted Ranma's ears, and he already had a feeling that he knew who it was. Standing and brushing the dust off his clothing he got into a fighting stance as his father burst into the dojo, the elder Saotome red in the face from anger. "Foolish boy! Do you have any idea what you have done!?"

Ranma frowned and slid into his Kempo stance. It looked like it was already going to come to blows between them. "Whatcha talkin about Oyaji?"

Genma, now out of breath from his charge into the dojo, took a few deep breathes and started yelling again. "You went too far in fighting with the other house guests! Because of you they are considering kicking us out!"

Ranma already knew his father was exaggerating about the getting kicked out of the house part. While Akane and Amy were mad at him they both understood that it was a fight between martial artists. Besides, Kaigen wasn't that badly hurt. "Stuff it old timer. I'm not in the mood to listen to one of your stupid speeches."

Genma got into his own Kempo stance and hmph'ed. "I won't tolerate such disrespect from you Ranma! I thought I taught you better than that!"

Ranma was through listening to his wind-bag of a father. "Shut it ya old fool!" He picked up into a run and started the melee between the two of them.

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Ryoga would have yelled, "WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!?" except for the fact that he knew he was in front of the Tendo Dojo. ("Now the question is how do I get inside without getting lost again?") He pondered that until finally a gear in his head clicked. "I KNOW!" He made sure he was looking straight at the Dojo and then slammed his finger into the wall. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" He felt his ki shoot into the stone and with an earth-shattering crack the wall exploded. Now he could see into the yard easily. He strolled in, feeling proud of his accomplishment. ("Now to go see Akane-san.")

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Amy had gone out with Nabiki to discuss some things involving Kaigen and the school play, so Akane had some time to herself. She had been about to go and see what all of the commotion in the Dojo was, but the explosion that rocked the building caught her attention first. She ran out of the house and blinked in surprise as Ryoga strolled in through the hole in the wall. "Ryoga-kun!"

Ryoga froze up at the sound of Akane saying his name. For a moment his heart fluttered in the throes of love, but he quickly shook the feeling off. ("No! No more waiting for the right moment! This is the time! I will tell Akane my true feelings for her!") He braced himself and stiffly marched up to her. "Hey there Akane!" He didn't seem to notice he had nearly screamed the words out.

Akane flinched at the sound of his voice. "Are you ok Ryoga-kun?"

His heart started to beat faster in his chest, but with the willpower that can only come from a martial artist Ryoga forced the feeling down. ("I won't let my weak heart stop me!") "I will be in a moment Akane-san. First I have to get something off my chest though."

Akane tilted her head slightly and nodded. "Sure. What do want to tell me?"

If not for the willpower he was expending right at this moment, Ryoga would have been running for the nearest hill. Instead he simply gulped and took a deep breath. "Well Akane, for the longest time I....I....I....I...." Mentally he slapped himself and screamed, ("Snap out of it! This is your best chance to tell her that you love her!") He took another deep breath and tried to tell her once more, only to stutter when he got to the 'I' part of the sentence.

Akane nodded understandingly and tried to be supportive of Ryoga. He had been such a good friend in the past and from the way he was having such trouble now, she knew that being patient was the best way to go about helping him through whatever was bothering him. She rested her hand on his arm and smiled. "Just take your time Ryoga."

("She....she...she's touching me.....") He felt even his unshakable willpower start to slip. Sweat was beginning to pour down his face slowly, leaving him red from embarrassment. "I....I...I...I...." Outside he was overloaded, while inside he was wishing he had the power to slap himself in a more literal sense. ("Stop sounding like a broken record! Tell her now!") "I....lo...lo....lov...lov....love.....y....y...."

Before Ryoga could finish his sentence a crash came from inside the Dojo and the black and white furred body of a panda came launching out of a newly made hole in the wall of building. It slammed right into Ryoga, and was quickly followed up by the jump-kicking body of Ranma Saotome yelling, "I'm not done with you yet Oyaji!" He crashed into Genma and the two of them rolled about on the ground, exchanging punches and kicks until as one they broke away from each other.

Genma signed, 'You need to learn more respect for your elders boy!' He flipped the sign around to show, 'Plus your kick is a little off.'

Ranma felt his right eye twitching in anger. "I'll show you whose kick is a little off, ya stupid panda!" He ran in and was about to land a blow on his father but Ryoga, who was still stuck under Genma, beat him to it. With a roar of frustration Ryoga landed an uppercut on Genma-panda's chin, sending him into the lower atmosphere.

Ryoga watched the panda disappear out of sight, and then slowly he turned his eyes to bring Ranma into his gaze. ("I was so close to saying it....I was almost there.") He felt depression well up inside of him. "Ran....Ranm....Ranma....." He snarled out. His hands cupped together and with a yell he released the depression in a ball of ki aimed at his rival. "Shi Shi Hokoudan!"

Ranma rolled to the side to avoid the blast and smiled slightly at Ryoga. "What's the matter P-chan? Did I interrupt something?" Ryoga's response was to drop his backpack to the ground and charge screaming, "RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!" He came down with his right index finger extended. It slammed into the ground and Ryoga released his ki into the earth. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" The ground around him exploded and Ranma skipped back to avoid the rock pieces that the attack had launched. He was more than ready to fight Ryoga using his full strength. He needed someone to get his aggression out on anyway.

Little did Ranma know that he apparently pushed Ryoga over the edge of anger. Now the Lost boy was somewhere in the realm of temporary insanity. Roaring in fury Ryoga broke free of the ground and slammed his finger into the earth again, creating another explosion. This one though created a chain of explosions all across the yard, creating numerous potholes and ditches all across their battlefield. "I won't forgive you for what you did! RANMA THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ryoga unleashed another Shi Shi Hokoudan, nearly clipping Ranma with the super-charged attack this time. "I'll kill you! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Ranma's eyes shot wide as he realized just how mad Ryoga really was. ("He must have broken his brain or something. He's lost it.") Ranma skipped back from another flurry of punches. He had gotten in a hit or two when Ryoga passed by him, but he knew it wouldn't have any effect on the Lost Boy while he was this mad. In this state Ryoga was beyond feeling pain anymore. ("Looks like I'm going to have to treat this like a serious fight!") Ranma braced himself and got ready as Ryoga approached him again. His timing for this had to be perfect for this to work properly.

Watching Ranma's stop, Ryoga lunged in with another Bakusai Tenketsu aiming it at the pig-tailed boy's feet. As his finger went into the ground, Ryoga saw Ranma bend down at the knees and land a punch on his abdomen. Realization slid across his features as Ryoga felt at least a hundred blows land on his body in the time it took for the first to arrive. Then the energy from the Bakusai Tenketsu went off and both boys were sent flying apart from the explosion.

Ryoga was the first to recover and he smiled. "Do you actually think that variation of your speed technique is going to work again Ranma!? If so then I suggest you reconsider my strength level you fool!" He literally howled out another battle cry and charged.

Ranma couldn't understand it. He had just hit Ryoga at least a hundred times in the same spot. Yet he didn't even flinch from the attack. ("Has his endurance really increased that much?") Ranma rolled out of the way of another dive that ended in a repeat of the Bakusai Tenketsu. "Yo Ryoga, stop it! You're ruining the yard!" When his opponent's response was a snarl of rage, then Ranma knew something was wrong. Ryoga may have hated his guts, but when it came to other people's property Ryoga was actually fairly careful with his Breaking Point technique. Plus the Ryoga that Ranma knew didn't act like an animal when he fought. ("I need some time to look this situation over, but I doubt that Ryoga is going to give me that chance.")

Ryoga didn't know what was giving him so much power, but he didn't care anymore. He had the strength in his hands and now he could kill Ranma. ("At last I will have my revenge!") Channeling the depression that still simmered within him, Ryoga unleashed another Shi Shi Hokoudan that Ranma predictably dodged. It didn't matter though, because now Ranma was in the air and Ryoga was ready to kill him.

As he arched through the air in mid-dodge, Ranma blinked in confusion as Ryoga's body blurred slightly. ("What the hell was that!?") He understood what it was a second later when in an uncharacteristic burst of speed Ryoga was suddenly in front of him, landing a punch right into his chest. He felt a couple of his ribs crack and he was thrown through the air like a baseball, crashing into the wall at the other end of the yard.

Akane screamed for what must have been the fiftieth time during the fight, "Stop it Ryoga-kun!" Once again though Ryoga ignored her, his attention fully focused on Ranma. There was something wrong with him, and that became most apparent when he seemed to disappear only to reappear with his fist planted into Ranma's chest. ("Since when did Ryoga become so fast?")

He could feel the power in his veins, and it wanted out. It wanted to give him what he needed to kill his rival and claim Akane for himself. (_We can give you what you want Ryoga._) It was pulsing through him now and his senses felt so very alive. He allowed himself a slight smile as he dove in and threw another punch at Ranma. He already knew that Saotome was going to dodge it, but it didn't matter anymore. He had felt some of Ranma's ribs crack under the force of his fist, and soon enough the damage from his hit would bring Ranma's speed down to a more workable level. ("And as soon as that happens I'll be more than happy to rip you apart Saotome.")

Ranma already knew that Ryoga was fighting angry, but it caught him as off when he noticed that one of Ryoga's irises were now an odd red-orange color. Considering how much faster and stronger Ryoga had suddenly become he knew that he only had one option left to disable his rival. Risking a glance over at the house he yelled, "Akane! I want you to go inside and do not look out here!"

Akane blinked in confusion at Ranma's demand. Her face screwed up in anger and she screamed back, "Why should I!? Are you afraid I won't be able to deal with the fight!?" If it wasn't for the fact that Ryoga was attacking him right now, she would have gone over and malleted Ranma for daring to suggest she was weak in any way.

"No stupid! Get yourself inside now!" Ranma side-stepped another of Ryoga's punches, wincing in pain as his damaged ribs protested against the movement. ("Damn....I can't keep this going much longer.") His only chance was to get Ryoga into the koi pond and trigger his curse to turn him into P-chan. That would effectively end the threat. The only problem was his promise to Ryoga about not telling Akane that The Lost Boy was really her pet piglet P-chan. If he threw Ryoga in there he would break his oath and that was out of the question, even in this dire situation.

Ryoga pulled a rock free of the earth and hurled it at Ranma. The pig-tailed boy easily dodged the toss, but his attention was diverted when the rock shuddered and exploded in mid-air, spraying him with sharp rock pieces. ("Since when could he make the Bakusai Tenketsu a delayed reaction technique!?") Ranma went into a series of back-flips as he put some distance between himself and Ryoga. ("Looks like I'm going to have to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak.") He braced himself against the ground and felt his ki building in his body. He didn't want to put all of his energy into this attack, but he had to end this fight right now. His damaged body couldn't take much more stress from a prolonged fight.

Now both of Ryoga's eyes were the odd orange-red color, and they glinted in the moonlight as he charged for Ranma once more. His rival had stopped moving and looked like he was preparing to fight Ryoga in hand-to-hand combat. "Fool! You'll be killed!" Ryoga lunged once more and cocked back his fist, about to drive it into his rival's skull.

Ranma watched as Ryoga approached, but he knew he didn't have his opening yet. Ryoga got closer and closer, and right before his punch landed Ranma saw his opening. ("Here goes nothing!")

Ryoga felt like skipping in glee. He was less than a second away from caving Ranma's skull in, and then it would over. Instead though he saw Ranma's hands blur, and suddenly he was stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as pain wracked his body.

Akane couldn't understand what was going on. Ranma was crouched in front of Ryoga and for a moment it had looked like Ryoga was going to kill him, but instead Ryoga had suddenly gone stiff and was now starting to bend at the waist slowly.

Ranma was hitting as hard and as fast as he possibly could. Hitting Ryoga's stomach was like punching through brick and considering that he had just reached punch number 1000, he was getting tired. He didn't dare stop though. If he did and it wasn't enough to stop Ryoga's new endurance then he would die. Ranma could feel his energy level plummeting though and he knew that this was going to be a very big gamble. He was putting all of his energy into this super Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken attack. As the number of punches he was landing on Ryoga's body passed the 2,000 mark Ranma knew he was at the end of his rope. He was losing all of the feeling in his arms. He kept hitting though, refusing to submit until he had burned himself out completely.

Akane could see Ranma's fists now and it seemed impossible that he was able to keep hitting for so long. He looked like he was on the verge of a physical collapse.

Ryoga could feel every punch now. His endurance may have been powerful but when your opponent punches you 3,000 times in the same spot on your body it really doesn't matter how powerful you are compared to him. He felt the blows coming in slightly slower now, meaning that quite soon he was going to have his chance. ("Saotome must be completely burning himself out for this attack.") He would have smiled but the pain from the blows was too great.

Ranma had reached the 4,000 mark and with one last hit, he was done. He felt every muscle in his arms start to cramp up all at once, but he knew he had pulled it off. Nothing even remotely human could have withstood that many blows. With a slight smile on his lips he collapsed face-first into the dirt. Ryoga collapsed atop him shortly after.

_To be continued..._

Next Chapter: A surprise gift


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